I have cut and pasted Chapter one and two in this post for any who missed it the first time around._____________Chapter One ---M.Bevington.Once upon a time there were four brothers, Wade Welp, Eric Welp, Laurent Welp, and Pedro Welp. They lived in lands far apart not knowing the others existed. One cold dark night, their STARs aligned and magically they were united in PICal awareness. As each one unfolded their visions of bitmaps, airfiles, vectors, and gauges, they arrived at total consciousness. The brothers worked through the night (lots of them) with not a minute to waste. As electrons fired from continent to continent, the vision began to take shape. The birth of a new masterpiece was close at hand. Under cover of darkness, they turned dreams into reality. It was not until the new set of code was turned into a true treasure that the brothers gathered kings from many lands to look upon it. Under a cloak of silence, the kings spent many moons feasting on the treasure and sharing visions of new refinements.As the treasure became worthy of introduction to the common people, the brothers emerged from the darkness and reached out to Wil, a merchant. Wil engaged in an agreement to package the treasure within a skin of his own choosing and further provide distribution and support through his COmpany.As the people awoke, they marveled at the treasure. What the brothers had not known was the hidden dark side. The treasure became addictive to the people and they found they could not go back to the dreary life they had known without daily exposure to it. The people started making false Gods of the brothers and lifted them as idols.The treasure had but one fault. It was married to a chest, a container that the treasure must rest in for it to be seen and heard. The problem with this arrangement began to surface when the builder of the container, named Mic Ro, decided his container was not decorated well enough and built a new one. All of the people rushed to see the new soft container put forth by Mic Ro and the land began to shake. The people were faced with a problem they could not solve. How could they settle with the brother

>The brother, whom had been alone on the island, was soon>joined by others. The treasure was in the forge and was soon>to be tested. All were in a joyous mood and much, much ale and>roasted beasts were consumed at a great banquet feast. "Whom>will compare to this treasure, with its depth, height and>value?" stated one. Those who were present were silent as the>jewel tube was revealed. T'was a treasure like no other. New>and smooth.>>Those on the north shore became restless and quarlsome. The>counterfit treasures were not filling the need. NG,>Scare-a-bus treasures were not "The Treasure". Some began to>regain their minds. "I must keep hope alive in the brothers>Welp", they stated. >>They were wise and their wisdom should be caught by all. Ahhh, but there is more to the mystique of the counterfeit treasures than meets the eye. Be forewarned - a very dangerious mystique. I have heard the story of one who was sent on a dangerous covert recon mission in search of the truth and to understand the force behind the capabilities of the counterfeit treasures. He speaks softly when recounting his experience. He claims to have met and come face-to-face with "the seductress". Her outward appearance is captivating. She is very perceptive and can read your mind: every wish and desire. She moves and manuevers fluidly about in response to your every touch. She will dance for you as you will have her dance - obeying your every command. But, if you are not careful, her aura will draw you in further and further until she completely disorients and controls your mind: she will make you believe that your wishes for reality, are reality. She is not the treasure - and she knows it! She knows that if you are able to break her bond and return to the true treasure - you will break her hold on you - and never return to her seductive lair ...He spoke of how he continues to suffer the effects of her ability to alter his perception of reality, resulting in him becoming impatient: wishing that those things which are unknown and unseen become known and seen.In his last breath he gave me a final warning to remain strong and always on my guard ... The seductress's powers grow in intensity with each and every sole that she captivates ...-michael

...and then the non-believers began their wailing - "we want to SEE the new treasure! We won't even believe that it exists until we SEE the new treasure!". But the brothers, ever wise, knew that if they showed the non-believers the new treasure, it would only make them want to see more and more and more. But the faithful knew that they could trust the brothers and their loyal helpers, and that when the time was right, the new treasure would be revealed in all its glory. And they knew that, even though the brothers did not always respond to every wish put forth, they were always watching over all of their followers.And as the proclamations of disbelief and abandonment spewed forth, the faithful just shook their heads in wonder, and patiently watched for more chapters of the story to appear. :)

With each new unfolding of competing false treasures, cries of victory were heard throughout the land. But the faithful calmly sat back and quipped:Victory you say, not victoryBegun, the clone wars they have.

Bill,Bravo to you sir! You spent some time on that post and it shows. I'm not aywhere near that level in terms of writing skills so I won't even try to emulate. I will say thanks for the story. . .and the WHOLE story at that.Regardless of what anyone thinks, I really do hope that one day we will see another updated "treasure." 767PIC was a really fun program that just had a certain "magic," to it that made me WANT to come back for more.Hopefully, v2 will capture that same magic. Well just have to see one day. Anyway, thanks again for the story! Bravo!

and as the followers of the Welp brothers slowly entered the clone war,they sang their battlesong,shamelessly borrowed from a well known band:"you used to captivate me,by your resonating lightbut now i'm bound by the life you left behindyour face it haunts,my once pleasant dreamsyour voice it chased away,all the sanity in me"and with great anger they swept forward,,and startled the clones,who ran to the castle of Prince Scare-a-bus,where there was much wailing,and gnashing of teeth,as Prince Scare-a-bus had never anticipated such a dramatic loss....Meanwhile,the followers of Princess Ng were laughing,and dancing in joy...but little do they know...........from here,no-one really knows where this captivating story might end,but those faithfull surely believe in victory.